Two and a half years ago, one of the worst tragedies in sporting history occurred when a flight carrying the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl crashed shortly after takeoff. Forty-three died at the crash site. Only one player was rescued from the wreck alive, Alexander Galimov.

Galimov, a teammate of Alex Ovechkin‘s on Team Russia during the 2005 World Junior Championships, survived for five days before succumbing to his injuries. During his struggle, Ovechkin tweeted in Russian, “Sasha Galimov, you must live!!”